Armed career criminal handed 15+ year prison sentence

By mnino

Created 03/30/2014 - 7:00am

POSTED: Sunday, March 30, 2014 - 7:00am

UPDATED: Sunday, March 30, 2014 - 7:09am

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX — Joel Sanchez Jr., 44, of Corpus Christi, will now be serving 188 months in federal prison following his conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. He entered a plea of guilty Nov. 7, 2013.

On March 25th, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack handed Sanchez his sentence which will be followed by five years of supervised release. Sanchez had previously been convicted in state court for numerous felonies and was determined to be an armed career criminal by the court.

On July 19, 2013, agents and officers executed a federal search warrant at Sanchez’s Corpus Christi residence. The search warrant was based on information that Sanchez was selling crack cocaine from his residence and the purchase of 3.1 grams of crack cocaine by agents during an undercover operation. During the search, agents located a Sig Sauer Model 2022, 9mm pistol in Sanchez’s room.

In federal custody since his arrest, Sanchez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The charge stems from an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol. Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Corpus Christi Police Department Gang Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugo R. Martinez is prosecuting.